wrangler
Americannoun
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a cowboy, especially one in charge of saddle horses.
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a person who wrangles or disputes.
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(at Cambridge University, England) a person placed in the first class in the mathematics tripos.
noun
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one who wrangles
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a herder; cowboy
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a person who handles or controls animals involved in the making of a film or television programme
a snake wrangler
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(at Cambridge University) a candidate who has obtained first-class honours in Part II of the mathematics tripos. The wrangler with the highest marks is called the senior wrangler
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of wrangler
1505–15; wrangle + -er 1; wrangler ( def. 1 ) originally horse-wrangler, probably partial translation of Mexican Spanish caballerango groom, stable boy, with -erango suggesting wrangler
Explanation
A wrangler primarily manages horses and livestock. The term can also describe a teacher skillfully controlling rowdy first graders, or even someone adept at handling disputes and arguments. The word wrangler comes from the Old High German wrangal, meaning "to struggle," reflecting the tough job of managing livestock. It typically describes those who care for horses or cattle. The term can also playfully refer to anyone skilled at handling noisy groups, like a teacher who masterfully manages a bunch of energetic children. When applied to someone argumentative, wrangler refers to a person who is passionate and loud in disputes, engaging in debates with the intensity of a cowboy managing unruly horses.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Celebrity crocodile wrangler Matt Wright will spend five months in prison for tampering with evidence after a helicopter crash that killed his co-star and left the pilot a paraplegic.
From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2025
For now, the reporters are relegated to lower press — where a wrangler admitted in writing that they cannot speak on the record for the administration.
From Salon ● Nov. 7, 2025
Snake wrangler Danielle Wall has become a celebrity in California’s high desert.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2024
About six feet behind them, another cat wrangler was hidden in the ceiling with a matching cat positioned above an already scored ceiling tile so that the matching cat could be more safely dropped.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2024
All afternoon he’d been fretting about those elusive cottonmouth moccasins, wondering why the reptile wrangler hadn’t been able to find them.
From "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen
When the event’s signature balloons were introduced in the late 1920s, wranglers simply released the larger-than-life characters into the sky.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 25, 2025
Much attention so far has focused on A.I. wranglers like Buscaglia whose offerings can compete with those of human writers and illustrators.
From Slate ● May 21, 2025
“No. Sorry,” the official said, as another pooler noted that wranglers looked on “sheepishly.”
From Salon ● Feb. 15, 2025
And we’ve stayed at a dude ranch in Arizona, riding horses, swimming laps, dishing on guests and wranglers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2023
Altogether Mr. Hicks paid wages to about sixty punchers and horse wranglers.
From Ruth Fielding at Silver Ranch Schoolgirls Among Cowboys by Emerson, Alice B.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
